The independent team cut short their conversation with visitors and had to clear crowds from their boat after they received the shout from Humber Coastguard at around 10.15am on Sunday.

A pet pooch had gone into the water at Horsey after spotting a seal and had started to swimming out to sea. The dog’s concerned owner dialled 999 and the lifeboat was launched within six minutes.

But when the crew arrived to start a search they were flagged down by the relieved owner who pointed out that pet dog, Anubis, had made it back to shore by himself.

Senior helmsman Mick Clarke swam ashore to make sure both pet and owner were ok.

He said: “They live in Hertfordshire and he’s a rescue dog and not been to the coast before. They decided to let him off the lead and then he saw a seal and he thought ‘they’re interesting’ and swam out.

“The seal kept ducking down and reappearing further out.”

Crowds welcomed the crew back to the station when they returned and were keen to find out what had happened.

“There were people on the beach taking photos and I think the donation bucket certainly went up after seeing us in action,” Mr Clarke added.

Anubis and his owner later popped up to the station to thank the crew, enjoy a cup of tea and pose for a group picture.

Mr Clarke said the pet pooch was taken in from a rehoming centre and his owner had joked that he was making being rescued “a bit of a habit”.